The Time of Our Lives
by Younger Than the Soul
Summary: It happened in the summer, the time where life thrives, and it was then our lives had begun.
1. Crash

**Transformers and all of its characters, concepts, and story belong to their respective owners. All original characters that are not owned by me belong to their respective creators. This story is inspired by Transformers (2007) and many other universes. Please enjoy it.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Our Intertwining Destinies<br>**

_Book One:_

_**"The Time of Our Lives"**  
><em>

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><p><strong>Chapter 0<strong>

** Crash**

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><p><strong>[May 2007]<strong>

**One Month Before Mission City**

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><p><em>"System failure, emergency landing imminent."<em>

Flames and dust spreading through his round form as his velocity increases every second. His temperature was rising drastically, metal threatening to mold from the heat. The blue planet was growling larger and larger as he careened into the atmosphere. Controlling his direction was hopeless, his motor functions were lost long ago. He just barely made it out of that Decepticon attack.

_"Altitude dropping, prepare for impact in one klik."_

He was lucky that his aim was on land an not in any water, he had a chance on land. Lights flashed as his altitude continued to drop. Sentient life littered the planet_, _it was obvious at this point. The air around him seemed to scream as he continued to drop. The lights were overcome by green as he descended into the wild life instead of the populace. At least he wouldn't cause too much attention.

_"Impact in sixty astroseconds."_

He could actually make out the green at this point, they were tall structures with thousands of small, slim flaps adorning them. He could hear the flaps rustle as the distance between them and him closed.

_"Thirty astroseconds."_

The flaps were burning as gravity continued its work. He could feel the impact on the tall structures. They were no match for his burning form. He braced himself.

_"Impact."_

He didn't embed into the ground, he didn't even slide. He actually skipped across the ground, crushing the tall structures in his path. Fire spread around the area as he continued to roll into the alien environment. He finally slowed to a stop and settled into the ground. His consciousness was fading, he only had about a half klick of energy left. He spent it on transforming into his protoform, finally able to stretch out his long limbs. The fires were dying out around him. He thanked the higher powers for allowing him any peace. His energy was low, but he knew that Optimus and his team were not far behind. He would just have to send a distress signal out when he had the energy to do so. But for now, it was time to rest. The sounds of nature around him dulled into nothingness as his surroundings went black.

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><p>Steam erupted out of the nozzle as the teapot whistled, begging for attention. The woman was just finishing the platter of cups before placing it on the counter next to the pot. She calmly placed the tea bags into the cups and poured the water into each cup. After placing the pot back on the stove, she gathered the tray up and made her way to the back patio. It was already dark out, but the stars were shining brighter than ever, and then moon was a giant glowing orb in the sky. With the moon's glow the patio was illuminated into a clear view, it was truly a perfect night.<p>

Though her hands were full, she easily opened the back door that led to outside. From this point she could not only hear the sounds of the wilderness around her, but the voices of her roommates as well. It had been a long day for all of them, and they deserved the relaxation. From the table, a blonde woman turned to look at their server and gasped.

"Jade! Why didn't you say anything, I would have helped!" the woman called out in an English accent. Jade shook her head at her roommate.

"Carly, it's _fine_. I'm perfectly capable of serving tea."

Across the table from Carly sat a tanned you man who grinned.

"Yeah babe, just because you're from London doesn't me-"

"For the TENTH time Raoul, I'm from Liverpool, NOT London. England isn't just London you know."

Raoul rolled his dark brown eyes. "Of course babe, I knew that."

Carly huffed and turned back to Jade as she served the tea. "Anyway, how was the rehab center today?"

Jade shrugged her slender shoulders. "Meh, the usual. One of the athletes complained about not being able to practice for the season. I told him that the sooner he did the therapy the sooner he'd be able to play, but of course he didn't want to. You try to be polite, but they of course don't appreciate it. Finally I just kindly told him to try another sport since his ankle won't be well enough to run on again if he kept this up."

The third young man chuckled as he stirred his tea. "Yeah, that sounds like you. You're sweet on the outside but you can still strike a bite when you want to."

Carly grinned. "Very true, Chip. I remember when she was first doing physical therapy with you."

Chip groaned at the memory. Jade had worked him like a horse when he first moved into the house. She gave off a kind demeanor, but once she was working she was a monster. Unfortunately for him, so was Carly. He'd never hear the end of it with Carly. He took a sip from the tea and sighed in delight.

"Black tea" he asked Jade. She nodded as she poured milk into her cup.

"Yeah, I haven't had it in a while. Anyway, Raoul, how was the shop today?"

Raoul nearly coughed up his tea at the memory. "Oh, _get this_, some dumbass decided that it would be a good idea to go drag racing."

Chip arched an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

Raoul gave him a flat look. "No, that's NOT all..." he continued to glare at Chip, who was a stoic as ever, before continuing. "So the guy decides to go drag racing...in a _Prius_."

Carly and Jade snorted and Chip shook his head. Raoul did have some amusing stories from the car shop. Chip had his own stories from the school, but they involved more scientific topics that he knew only Carly would understand. He calmly lied and said he had nothing worth telling and allowed Carly to speak.

"Well it was pretty good. Jessica and I were talking to Professor Lamonte about our assignment and..."

She paused when she noticed Jade staring at the sky behind her. "Um, Jade, are you okay?"

Jade continued to stare at the sky as she pointed behind Carly. She turned, along with Chip and Raoul, and gasped. From the sky came a ball of fire. It was falling, fast, in their general direction. Everyone except for Chip stood up. They held their breath and clutched the table as the ball dived lower and lower into the woods. There was some brief relief when they saw that the ball was dropping into the woods. There was an ear splitting explosion when it made impact with the ground. The roar of breaking trees echoed and birds flew into the sky, crying out in fear. They recognized the sound of the ground being torn apart and finally one last crash. The birds had flown off a few minutes ago, the crickets were silent. Nature had been on hold for ten minutes while the four gaped at the woods. They could see the smoke in the sky and some flames in the distance. Raoul finally closes his mouth.

"What the HELL was that?"

No one responded except for closing their mouths. Jade's face went from shock to determination. She stepped away from the table and set off to the woods. Carly and Raoul cried out.

"Jade! Get back here!"

"Yeah you don't know what's in there!"

From behind them, Chip blinked. He removed his hands form the table and wheeled his chair away from the table. "Guys, go with her. I'll stay back here by the phone in case something happens.

Raoul paused and nodded before taking off. Carly gave Chip, he returned it, and she sighed. "You're all crazy. No, I'M crazy." she mumbled before following Raoul.

Jade's feet were a blur as she closed the distance between herself and the flames. She knew that most meteorites burned up in the atmosphere, but this was obviously a very big one if it made this much noise. There was a thud as she tripped over a root but she only stumbled before returning to her pace. From behind her she heard Raoul suck in a gasp though his teeth. "Be careful!"

She continued her sprint, very surprised she made it this far. In high school she was never an athlete, neither in college, but somehow she was making the distance. Finally the ground was becoming misshapen from the crash, her destination was near. Suddenly a noise echoed into the air again, a noise that was unearthly. She had never heard such a thing, the closest possible choice would be the sound of metal coming apart and being put back together in rapid succession. She stopped when she saw the major damage. The fires were dieing down to embers now. Raoul and Carly had finally caught up to her, both panting from the exertion on their bodies. They had run pretty far into the woods. They panted as Jade scanned the ground where a huge trench had scarred the ground. Her head turned left, right, and then left again. The sounds had ceased, but she was attempting to remember where the echoes came from. The sounds of nature were still silent, there was only the flames, wind, and panting. From the left came a random thud, and Jade took off like an Olympian. Raoul cursed and Carly groaned before following again. Jade's feet pounded into the submerged earth as she followed the direction. Her brown eyes were squinted in determination. She HAD to find this thing, she wasn't sure WHY, but something inside of her screamed at her to run. She slowed to a stop and groaned, lost once again. She looked around and listened as hard as she could while Raoul and Carly were approaching. Something moved in the corner of her eye and her head snapped at attention.

A shimmer appeared and disappeared in a blink of an eye. Her body reacted like a viper going to its prey. She was off again just as Raoul and Carly stopped. "Oh COME ONE!" Raoul shouted in frustration while Carly panted again. Jade ignored them as she slowed down, but didn't stop. Her foot falls were mute as she stepped over fallen limbs. She gasped at the sight before her.

It was massive, at least fifty feet long, and laying across the forest floor. Silver moonlight gleamed across its body, the very humanoid body. Four limbs, two legs and two arms. The chest was massive and gave a soft hum. It didn't appear to be breathing, as it probably didn't need to, and was still as the night itself. Its head was rested against a massive tree root, the neck bent towards the sky.

From behind her Carly began to cry out, and a soft slap came out as Raoul slammed his hand on her face. A much louder slap was heard as she retaliated on his arm before they turned back to the metallic being.

"Raoul, what the bleeding hell is that thing?"

Raoul, ever the charmer, gave her a flat look. "Oh yeah, I'M going to know, I'm not the scientist here. The scientist is safe at the house!"

Jade silenced them with a glare before she turned back to the being. It looked so peaceful she almost didn't want to disturb it. Without any precaution, Jade stepped forward. Raoul's hand as immediately on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off with ease. She put her finger to her lips before advancing toward the giant. Upon closer inspection she saw the scratches and gashes. She winced, it looked painful. Jade stepped toward the arm, it was about as long as four of her at the least. She bit her lip when temptation struck her. From behind her she could feel Raoul and Carly mentally screaming at her to back off. This was of course ignored and temptation won the mental battle. Lithe as a cat, she stepped on to the hand. This time her companions did gasp out, Raoul cursing, but they were ignored.

"Jade! Are you crazy!" Carly whispered loudly, and, as expected, ignored by the brunette. Jade climbed up the arm until she reached the shoulder. She slipped but caught herself on the side of the torso. Form this point she could make out the features of the face. Metal plates composed a long, oblong shaped face. There was even a nose and lips. She didn't know why, but she found the face to, overall, be handsome in a sense. She could have been crazy from shock for all she knew, but these thoughts were repressed and she continued. Her body slithered on to the shoulder. Using the neck, made up of wires, as support, she was able to pull herself up to its chin. From the ground Raoul and Carly watched in shock and awe as their friend slithered to the chest. Finally Jade sat up, taking in the face before her. Curiosity finally got the best of Carly and she stepped forward. Raoul didn't even attempt to stop her and stood back to watch. If something happened he was at least far enough away to run and scream for Chip to call the cops. Carly only made it to the creature's thigh and hesitated. Biting her lip she slowly placed her hand on the metal. She flinched, it was surprisingly warm for metal, but that only made sense. It WAS on fire just minutes ago. With this knowledge she placed her other hand on the thigh, rubbing it up and down. It was smooth except for the scrapes. She traced them, wondering if it could feel any pain.

From above Jade stared at the face, counting the scratches while doing so. She winced, not used to sitting with her legs spread apart as if she were riding a horse. She leaned back farther from the head and on top of the center of its chest. The humming suddenly stopped.

"Uh, guys?" Raoul commented in the back.

And then the humming returned, louder than before, and the two eyes burst out bright blue light.

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><p>His spark was burning hotter than a sun from the sudden pressure. All of his systems activated in mere seconds and his optics flashed online. His auditory sensors picked up screaming before he could see the cause of the pressure. A small alien was sitting on his asbergo, screaming in shock. He sat up n surprise, knocking the organic off of him and to the ground. It scrambled away from him as he sat up. He knew it was not a good idea to be seen by the aliens, he didn't want any attention. He finally noticed that there were two other organics, one running toward the furthest away. From below, the organic brushed a lightly colored bio-material from its face. It looked up at him with dark colored optics.<p>

"Oww..."

It groaned in pain as it rubbed its processor. He studied its movements as it stood up, noting that it was shorter than the other two aliens. It wasn't hostile, though it wouldn't matter to him, as it appeared to be studying him.

"Are you okay?" it spoke, though he did not know what that meant. He racked his processor and connected to the world wide web, something that his fellow Autobot, Bumblebee, had sent information on. He had little trouble connecting and searching through the language. He was amazed at how many languages there were on this planet. It only took a few seconds to find the language, English. He now had a complete understanding of the English language now. He responded.

Unfortunately it did not come out in English.

Cybertronian apparently sounded very intimidating to the 'humans', according to the internet. They flinched back and covered their auditory sensors. Oh, ears, they were called ears. He closed his mouth plates and stared at them. Why wasn't he speaking in English? He did a short self examination and found some damage in his processor. So he could read and understand English, but he could not speak it. Great.

He expected the humans to flee for their lives, as the two taller ones appeared to think the same thing, but the shortest of the three stood its ground.

"Whoah, it's okay...can you understand me?"

He searched the internet again for non verbal responses. He was pleased to see that many non verbal responses were the same as Cybertron's. He nodded to the alien, who beamed up at him. It turned to its companions and then back to him.

"Okay, so you understand me. Do you have anything for me to call you? A name? Mine is Jade, she's Carly, and he's Raoul." she pointed to the both of them successively. Raoul apparently had no desire for his name to be revealed, but it was too late now. He noticed the uses of "he" and "she", referring to the separate genders. From the body structure that Jade and Carly were the same gender, female, and Raoul was most likely male. Referring back to her question, he attempted to translate it into English. It didn't take long to find the English equivalent. He pointed up to the sky, all three humans following his appendage. He went from the sky to the flames that were barely flickering behind them. They stared at the area.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Raoul asked, and then immediately silenced himself. Carly turned back to the sky, and then the fire. She turned to him.

"Starfire?"

Jade started laughing for an unknown reason. He shook his head and pointed back up to the sky and then to the flames. Jade stopped laughing and looked between the two again.

"Is it Skyfire?"

He nodded, glad that he was able to communicate in some form. Jade seemed very proud of herself and smiled at her comrades before turning back to Skyfire.

"Are you okay? Can you walk?"

Skyfire scanned himself again. His legs were damaged, but not too much. He gestured to Jade, hoping she would understand. His fingers curled in and out in rapid succession, coping her to move. She understood and backed up. Skyfire shifted on his good knee and began to rise before falling again, his leg screaming in pain. The humans backed off some more.

"He's hurt." Jade stated. Carly looked at her.

"How do you know that it's a he?"

Jade shrugged. "Looks like a he to me? Are you male?"

Skyfire quickly nodded. It was amusing though, that he would ever possible be confused for a femme. He grimaced at his leg injury. He had some medical knowledge, but he was no medic. He could do minor repairs, but he would need an expert. Ratchet was part of Optimus Prime's team. While he knew he would be greeted with a severe scolding form the CMO, it would be worth the repair. From below Jade was staring at his leg with concern etched across her features.

"It looks like it hurts." she looked up at him with determination in her optics.

"Can you move at all?"

Skyfire nodded. He couldn't walk, but he could limp. Hopefully these structures (which he then found to be called 'trees') would sustain under his strength for a few seconds. He nodded and shifted again, he was able to stretch up enough to hold on to one of the branches of the tree. It creaked but held nonetheless. Jade smiled.

"Good, good. Now follow me, I can put you somewhere to rest."

Raoul and Carly blinked in confusion. "Uh, Jade, where are you going to put it-er, him? If you didn't notice, he's kind of...large."

Jade rolled her eyes and turned to the male. "I'm going to put him in the barn."

"..._what?"_

"He'll fit in the barn."

Raoul narrowed his eyes. "No he won't! The barn isn't even clo-"

"He'll fit in the barn if we move the cars out." Jade cut off.

Raoul's eyes set into a glare. "Oh no, I'm not movi-"

Jade's eyes suddenly became fierce. "His well being is more important than your fucking Mustang Raoul!" she hissed.

Carly suddenly gave Raoul a look, a look that said "Well, you've done it now." Turning back to Skyfire, Jade smiled. The mech now knew that under that cheerful demeanor lied a fierce spirit.

"It's fine, you just follow us and we'll get you set up."

She turned around and began the trek home, Raoul and Carly following. Skyfire smiled and hoped that he would at least have protection against the planet's atmosphere.

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><p>Skyfire was pleased to see that the shelter was satisfactory. He could not stand in the 'barn', as Jade refereed to it, on account of his height, but it was much better than under the stars. This proved especially true the following orbital cycle when it began to 'rain' as the humans called it. When they arrived at their large dwelling, a fourth human had been waiting for them. He was, as expected, very surprised to see the mech, but went straight to work with helping him. The entryway to the barn was very tall and wide, allowing Skyfire to crawl inside with ease. At the moment he was leaning against the wall, surprised to see that it could hold him, though most of his weight was on the ground beneath him. Below him, Chip, the fourth human, was working diligently with a computer in an attempt to establish contact with Skyfire. He followed the human's instruction to create an 'email address' so he could use an instant messenger. While he was doing this, Raoul and Carly were working on his minor injuries. Raoul and Carly had experience working on machinery, though different types, and were able to fix wires and pull out debris.<p>

"Okay you should be set! Try it Skyfire!" Chip exclaimed from his spot. It only took a second to put write out a sentence.

_'Hello Chip.'_

Chip laughed. "Yes! We have made contact!"

Skyfire smiled and then winced when Carly extracted a particularly large twig from his knee. She smiled sheepishly up at him. He sighed, his knee feeling MUCH better than it had been earlier.

_'Thank you, Carly. The pain has subsided greatly.'_

Carly smiled brightly before putting the twig down by the rest of the debris.

From here the real communication had begun. They would ask him questions where he was from and what he was, and he would reply on the computer screen. Chip read Skyfire's responses out loud. Jade entered after a few cycles with a yellow beverage called 'lemonade' to serve to her friends. They continued with his history on his origins and the war. Hours passed as Chip continued to read out loud, eventually switching off to Jade when his mouth became dry. Raoul and Carly rested from their minor repairs. They did not look like much, but he was much more comfortable now than four mega cycles ago. He let them know this, and they seemed very proud of themselves. Finally the reached the topic of why he was on the planet.

_"I am hopeful that my comrades will reach the planet in little over a deca-cycle to retrieve me. I will unfortunately not be able to fight very well against the Decepticons. Will I be trouble you?"_

Raoul clicked his tongue. "That depends, how long is a deca-cycle?"

Jade gave him a look, to which he shut his mouth, and turned back to Skyfire. "You can stay as long as you want Skyfire. We can keep our cars outside for awhile."

She glared at Raoul before he could interject. He grumbled to himself and turned away. Skyfire nodded in thanks.

_"Thank you, Jade."_

Her face flushed slightly but she smiled anyway. "No problem."

And that was the beginning of the greatest month of their lives. The four would go to their respective jobs and return to Skyfire. Raoul and Carly continued to work on the minor injuries while Chip discussed with Skyfire on Cybertronian technology. Jade would have her own personal conversations with Skyfire, learning more about his life and vise versa every day. She learned about his work and his comrades and their mission. She was excited to hear that there was another Autobot on their planet. It was perfect. There was only one problem, and that was the fact that Skyfire would have to leave.

It was expected. The Autobots would retrieve Skyfire and leave Earth, never to be seen again. It hurt, it really did. Skyfire was her friend, a good friend at that. She wanted to spend more time with him, to know more about him, and she wanted him to know the same. It was like having an imaginary friend all over again, which sounded silly for a twenty-four year old woman. Her emotions didn't matter though, their war was more important than the feelings of one woman. But that didn't mean she didn't have to ignore her fear. Luckily for her, she was very good at masking her emotions with a smile, something she didn't have to do often when she was home with her roommates.

One day they had been watching their television and the news station interrupted their show. Apparently a city in Nevada had been attacked by terrorists, but the live footage said otherwise. The video was blurry, but they could make out forms that were similar to Skyfire shooting at each other. They asked Skyfire and he responded with surprise.

_"They are fighting the Decepticons as we speak. I hope it will turn out in our favor. I cannot communicate with any of my fellow Autobots. It seems that I must wait for the battle to end before I can send a distress signal. If I send it now, I can endanger you all by bringing Decepticons instead."_

After a few hours they found that the battle was over. When they told Skyfire, he responded calmly.

_"I will send the signal now. If the Autobots were victorious they will be here shortly."_

That week passed by very slowly. Everyone found themselves staring at the driveway waiting for giant robots to walk right up to the house. It was the end of June when the trucks had arrived. Four vehicles drove up the gravel road. A flame patterned semi, black truck, chartreuse ambulance, and a yellow with black stripes sports car pulled in. Jade could not recognize the vehicles and hesitated with going outside. Raoul grabbed a baseball bat from his room and stood by the door. They stared out the window as a man exited the semi, then another man from the truck, and then from the rest of the vehicles. The first man walked up to the door while the rest stared at the barn. The man knocked on the door. After a few seconds pause, he knocked again. Raoul clutched the bat harder and hid it behind the door before answering.

Raoul's eyes widened at the sight of the huge man for a split second before he returned back into a neutral expression. "Can I help you?" he asked, no emotion in his voice.

The man nodded to Raoul, his bright blue eyes linking with Raoul's brown. "Good afternoon. My name is Nathan Peterson. I am here to ask you a few questions about some...strange phenomenon..."

Raoul arched an eyebrow at the man when he paused, but he listened anyway.

From the window Jade stared at the four men outside. They appeared to be whispering to each other and pointing at the barn. Jade turned to Chip and Carly. Chip immediately wheeled himself to the computer and connected to Skyfire. Raoul continued to speak to the man at the door as Chip typed into the computer. They finally recieved a reply.

_"It is alright, these are my comrades. Please tell them that I am here."_

Chip turned to Jade. "It's alright, those are the Autobots!" he whispered to Jade. She immediately ran to the door, shoving Raoul out of the way.

"We have Skyfire!" she exclaimed, faltering a bit at the size of the man before her. The man gaped at her, completely surprised at her outburst.

"What?"

"We know who you really are. You don't need to cover it up anymore. And...um...you aren't very convincing anyway."

The man blinked and turned back to the other three, who murmured in agreement. 'Nathan' sighed and turned back to Jade. "Well then, it appears that I will not be requiring this disguise anymore."

Raoul and Jade gasped as the man literally flickered out of existence. The other three men did the same. There was silence.

And then the cars fell apart.

It was very similar to the sound Jade had heard a over a month ago when Skyfire arrived. Chip wheeled up to the window and they heard Carly scream upstairs from her bedroom. The three continued to watch the cars fall apart and bring themselves back together as Carly ran down the stairs and flew to the window where Chip was sitting. The forms were becoming more and more humanoid with each passing second. The barn door opened slightly as Skyfire pushed it open. Finally the sound stopped and four giants stood before them.

Surprisingly, their fear was nowhere near as strong as it should have been. It made sense, Skyfire was much larger than them, and they were used to Skyfire's size at this point. The tallest one kneeled down on one knee as Jade, Raoul, and Carly stepped out on to the porch, Carly wheeling Chip while doing so. He spoke while the other four stood back.

"My name is Optimus Prime, I am leader of the Autobots."


	2. Bang

**Chapter 1**

** Bang**

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><p><strong>[May 2008]<strong>

**One Year Later**

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><p>"Yes I understan-...no I do not own a business of my ow-...we're doing the best we ca-...I'm sorry, I'll have to put you on hold."<p>

He pressed the hold button and placed the phone on the receiver. His fingers squeezed the bridge of his nose as he sighed. A coffee cup was stealthily placed in front of him. His nostril twitched at the familiar aroma. He looked up at the woman standing behind his desk.

"Thank you, Nora." he responded with pure relief before picked up the cup for a sip. Nora shook her head.

"You're tired enough, Robert. I don't know how you've been going on this long. Why don't you go home for a break?" she asked in concern.

From his seat, Robert Connelly shook his head and put the cup down before picking up a new folder. "No can do, love. I have fifteen more robberies in this pile and another ten 'mysterious attacks' before I can even consider leaving the building."

Nora shook her head. Detective Connelly had been a hard worker from the beginning, but ever since the string of robberies, attacks, and even murders started four months ago, he'd been in an endless rush. It was showing too, the bags under his eyes could hold all of the files on his desk right now. Well, lack of desk at the moment, it wasn't even visible anymore. She frowned at the empty packs of cigarettes in the trash can by her feet.

"You really should cut back."

"I will when I have the time." he responded, signing yet another blank on the paper. Nora shook her head and walked away. She cringed when she heard the phone ring again, and Robert slowly picked up the receiver.

"Grimsbury-Cherwell-Easington division of the Thames Valley Police."

Nora listened carefully as she placed another coffee cup on another officer's desk. He was quiet and she could hear the slight changes in tone over the receiver.

"What?" he asked suddenly and quite loudly, Nora jumped a little before turning around to watch.

Robert was staring intensely at his desk while listening to the caller. "Okay, give me the address." His hand lashed out as he grabbed a pen and scribbled on a piece of paper. There was suddenly more light in his face, like he just witnessed a sudden glimmer of hope.

"Okay, thank you very much." he said before putting the phone on the receiver again. He stood up and grabbed his pack of cigarettes, lighting a fresh one at the same time. Nora and several others perked up at the sudden life coming from the detective.

"What's the matter, Robert?"

He marched around the desk, puffing smoke into the already humid air. "We've got a witness saying that they saw some commotion at St. Mary's."

One of the men in the back scoffed. "Yeah, and why would that get you upright so fast?"

Robert turned to him, an essence of calm. "Because they saw a brand new computer in one of the tower windows."

They all exchanged a look. It was an old church with very old fashioned staff. It was very unlikely that they would suddenly up and buy a brand new computer. They turned back to Robert.

"So you think this might be it?" one of them asked. Robert shrugged, taking another drag on his cigarette.

"It might be, it might not. Whether it is or not, it's our duty to check it out."

With that said, the officers prepared to leave. Another phone rang out and a younger officer picked it up.

"Hello? Oh, yes, hold on." He put his hand on the phone and turned to Robert. "Uh, Robert, it's again."

Robert made his way to the door. "Tell her she might get her criminal in a few hours."

He opened the door and walked out.

* * *

><p>St. Mary's Cathedral towered over the officers, it's front illuminated by the lights on the lawn. Robert grabbed his flash light and turned to his fellow officers.<p>

"I'm going to go in first, you can follow after five minutes."

He pursued, not giving any time for them to argue. His long strides too him to the front door quickly. He fished into his pocket and pulled out the key he received from security. The door creaked slightly as he opened the door and entered. After closing the door his flashlight was on and ready. His shoes clicked on the floor, echoing through the vast room. He cursed to himself, hoping he wasn't alerting the intruders, and possibly culprits to this whole mess.

Robert's footfalls had become softer now that he adjusted his movements. The candles were misshapen, frozen drops of wax suspended form the tips. He walked down the aisle, searching every space between the benches. Satisfied, he turned to the front of the church were the giant stained glass window of Mary was holding the baby Christ. Robert was never one for religion, though her did believe in a higher power, but for a brief moment he found himself staring at the grand image.

_Click click click_

Robert froze and kicked his senses into overdrive. He tilted his head to the side, listening for the sound.

_Click click click click_

It was coming from the ceiling, therefore the second floor. He twirled around and carefully paced himself as he walked towards the stairs. They were long and narrow, and looked old too, but they were the only obstacle between himself and the wooden door at the top step. Robert placed his foot on the stair and added pressure. It creaked slightly, but not enough to draw too much attention. Gritting his teeth, the detective began his trek up the stairs. He was not going to stop, he had come too far now.

It was four months ago that the first robbery was reported. An entire electronics store robbed of its products. The same night there were three attacks around the same area. It went on like this in rapid succession every night for months, report after report. Hundreds of cases have been piling up and more blood was pooling. This case was taking his life from him. No longer could he visit the pub with his mates, or take the time to read his novels, and, most importantly, see his family. He was going to solve this case tonight, he was going to get his LIFE back tonight.

He heard shuffling up the stairs. His hand slowly reached for his gun.

Whether it ended in blood or not.

The stairs creaked under his weight, echoing slightly. The shuffling stopped abruptly.

He cocked his gun.

His hand reached for the door knob and turned it slowly, the weapon held securely. The door creaked as he slowly opened it, careful not to drop the flashlight while doing so. He stepped in, scanning the room with the flashlight.

Well, it was definitely the _place_. Hardware was piled up and scattered all over the place. Plastic and metal littered the floor, it crunched as he took another step. Computers were stripped into pieces, the corpses of cellphones spread out over the floor. There was another creak, Robert flipped the light to that direction.

A computer screen shined back at him, completely intact. Curious, he stepped forward, stepping on discarded music players and cellphones. Fixating the light on the computer screen, Robert inspected the desk. A contraption made out of the guts of probably fifty different machines was humming idly in front of him. Different colored lights shined all over the place, a rainbow of wires dangling through the crevices of the disheveled machine. He reached out and pressed one of the keys on the keyboard. The screen lit up, thousands of unfamiliar characters lit up on the screen. They rapidly flashed across the screen, bright red against a black backdrop. Robert blinked, the color disorienting him for a brief moment. He frowned, confused at the language on the screen. While he did work with computers, Robert wasn't very well versed. These glyphs could have been math symbols for all he knew. He turned his head left and right before turning back to the screen. Robert recalled that when leaving a computer idle for a while a screen saver would pop up. Maybe it was one of those and that there was information on his case. He lifted his hand and reached for the screen.

His hand flinched away when he heard something fall over. Drawing his gun in less than a second, Robert spun around and pointed the light at the source of the noise.

He was looking at what appeared to be a garbage bag hanging from the ceiling. It was swinging back and forth, which no doubt knocked over the remnants of a stereo. Most officers would have ignored this, figuring it was just the breeze, but Robert know that the windows were not open. His grey eyes narrowed at the bag as its swinging slowed to a stop. Now suspicious of the bag, he lifted his hand to the keyboard again, and clicked one of the keys.

A terrible screech filled the room and the bag suddenly unfolded and launched itself at Robert. Quick as lightning, Robert jumped to the side and the flying object collided into the wall. Robert drew his gun again and pointed the light at the now ruined computer screen. The "bag" lifted itself up and turned around to the light. Glowing red eyes glared at Robert and a mouth screeched at him. Its ears were large and pointed, and its arms were long and thin. No, they weren't arms, they were _wings_. This creature resembled a gigantic bat, a gigantic bat made out of metal apparently. Once again it flung itself at Robert, but he was prepared this time. His finger expertly squeezed instead of pulled the trigger, the gunshot echoing through the room and down to the church. There was the sound of penetration and the bat creature shrieked again. Robert was not quick enough to dodge the bat's blow. It carved a long gash down his arm. Robert sucked in breath through his teeth, but did not cry out. The bat made to advance again, but it faltered. From downstairs, Robert's team had heard the shot and were now in the church and charging up the stairs. The bat screeched again and flew to the window. Glass shattered and the creature flew into the night, the clouds preventing the moon from shining down on the creature.

In seconds seven officers were in the room pointing guns and flashlights. Through the commotion someone noticed Robert on the floor, bleeding from his arm.

"Connelly!" he yelled out.

Seven flashlights pointed at him, Robert lifted his other hand to shield his eyes. In no time at all Nora was at his side with a first aid kit. She set to work cleaning his wounds. Robert reached out to stop her, but she slapped his hand away without losing focus on his arm. The officers were inspecting the room, trying and failing to avoid stepping on the missing items. Nora was still cleaning his wounds, but was satisfied enough to start asking questions.

"What happened? Was it a knife?" she asked, concern thick in her voice. Robert shook his head, wincing slightly as she began to bandage his arm.

"No, it was...I don't know WHAT it was." he sighed.

Nora turned to the now shattered window. "Well, whatever it was, it was able to shatter a window."

At the mention of the window, the officers decided that the culprit may have jumped out the window in a desperate attempt to escape, and bolted out of the room. Robert smiled slightly, glad that the noise was gone. Nora patted him on the back.

"Okay now, get up. We need to take you to the hospital."

Robert gave her a look of surprise. "What! Why? You just bandaged me up, I'm fine."

Nora arched a dark eyebrow. "Just because you're clean and bandaged doesn't mean there isn't anything else wrong with you. Now come on, princess." she finished before helping him to his feet. Robert sighed again before following Nora to the stairs.

* * *

><p>Ratbat worked his wing, attempting to get a better look at his injury. The fragging human made a clean shot at the flap, but not enough to prevent him from flying. It still hurt like slag though. He cursed to himself. He had been preparing his den for four quartexes! Now it was infiltrated by those filthy meatbags. They were probably gathering it all up as he sat on the roof to inspect his injuries.<p>

Cursing again, Ratbat settled his wing to his side. He hated this town, this species, this planet. This entire situation was the fault of that _idiot _Frenzy. He and Ratbat were supposed to travel with Barricade together, but NO, of course it didn't work out that way. Frenzy just HAD to give him a different route to the planet. Now, because of Frenzy's mistake, Ratbat had arrived on planet later than he was intended and thousands of miles away from his proper destination on planet. Yes, he could fly, but not for very long distances. Not only that, but he had missed the battle with the Autobots and Megatron's defeat, Ratbat couldn't afford to have the Autobots discover his location and take him out. No, he had to wait, to plan. He needed to establish contact with his master, Soundwave. His own comm link was damaged a long time ago and he had no other means of communication. He couldn't even tell if any of his fellow Decepticons were still alive, let alone on planet. Unfortunately for him he was forced to use the primitive technology of this Pit forsaken planet.

After four quartexes of work he was nearly finished with the machine. It was a long process, stealing that technology, and hiding. He had been seen many times, but he couldn't afford witnesses. He attacked any human that saw him, even killed a few of them, but that was their own fault. If they had escaped fast enough, like a quite a few of them did, they would have escaped with only injuries. Ratbat knew he was being pursued, he'd be surprised if he wasn't, but he had avoided them for awhile. It was perfect, just a few more solar cycles and he would have made contact.

Then that human found him and touched his only means of escape from this backwater mud-ball. He knew that they would collect everything as evidence anyway, so he had no choice but to attack. And now he was here, brooding and nursing a damaged wing.

Ratbat cursed again. That filthy human male. It was at fault for his suffering. Now all his work was for nothing, nothing left to do but hide out and hope that Soundwave, or ANY Decepticon, would arrive. And it was all because of that one. Single. Human.

Revenge.

This was what he desired the most, revenge. Revenge for the pursuing, for the injury, and for taking away his only real means of survival. Ratbat growled and shook with rage. He would have, oh he would make sure of that if it was the last thing he'd do. He immediately set to work on the internet, searching through file after file to find the proper face. In a few minutes he was able to narrow it down.

**Name: Robert Connelly**

**Date of Birth: 28 September, 1958**

**Birth Place: Lambeth, UK**

**Occupation: Detective of Grimsbury-Cherwell-Easington division of the Thames Valley Police, formerly Wing Commander of Royal Air Force**

Ratbat skipped through until he found what he was looking for.

**Home Address: 213 Hickory Drive, Cherwell, UK**

Ratbat grinned to himself. Perfect, now he had his destination. It was time for his plan.

Robert Connelly would never have the satisfaction of solving this case. He took off into the night.

His destination was not very far off. The two story building stood erect and empty. Ratbat found a small window that he could possibly fit through and advanced. Using his wire thin fingers, he was slip under the window pane and unlock the window. It opened smoothly, and he entered. It was dark, but that wasn't the least bit of a concern for him. He found a corner and flew towards it. Using a hook on the ceiling, he hung himself upside down, ready to rest for a few mega cycles. His hearing was sensitive, so he knew that he would have no problem hearing any human approach. Ratbat powered down his optics before the rest of his systems slowly shut down.

It was time to wait.

* * *

><p>Rain poured from the sky and into the street before her. Her boots sloshed in the street as she left the train station behind her. Her black umbrella shielded her from the moisture, the edges dripping into the soaked street. The grey sky hovered over the town as thunder rumbled in the distance. She lifted her leg and stepped back on to the sidewalk, her boots no longer sloshing. Her eyes glanced at the window to her right and she stopped. A sigh escaped her lips at her reflection.<p>

Her red hair was all over the place, the humidity of the summer rain ruining the locks. Her mascara was slightly melting off of her face from her irritated eyes.

"Bloody contacts." she mumbled as she rubbed the tissue around her grey blue eyes. The red head shook her head and continued her trek home.

It wasn't a long walk, another five minutes or so, but in this humidity it was a hindrance. She had felt worse of course, but her mood wasn't the best either, and the weather wasn't helping. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She groaned as she fished through her pocket. Once in her hand she glanced at the screen. It flashed "Dad". She flipped the phone open and placed it to her ear.

"Hey Dad."

"Rose! Are you okay? Did you have any trouble on the train?"

Rose rolled her eyes and answered. "No, everything was fine, as usual. Are you at the station?"

"No, no I'm not. Listen, I'm at the hospital right now."

She stopped abruptly, nearly tripping in the process. "What? What's wrong? Are you-"

Her father cut her off. "I'm fine, Rosie. I just had a little accident, a scrape on the arm, just a few stitches."

Rose proceeded in her walk. "How many stitches?"

"Just a few." he answered just a little too quickly.

"Dad..."

She narrowed her eyes as he sighed over the line. "Thirty-five."

"THIRTY-FIVE STITCHES! What the hell happened to you?"

"It was just an accident Rose. I fell last night and scratched my arm. It's fine, I'll live. Nora cleaned it up very well."

Rose nodded to herself at the name. Nora was kind and a good worker, she always treated everyone around her well unless they messed with her first. Rose's favorite part about Nora was that she never underestimated her. Nora had treated Rose as an adult ever since she was sixteen. While Rose knew she was just a child at that time now, she'd never forget how Nora would speak to her intelligently and with respect. She knew her dad liked her as well, and surprisingly that made Rose pleased. Her dad deserved to be happy, and she would support her father the entire way.

"Rose, I want you to lock all of the doors and don't let anyone in. I'll be home in about a few hours, I have to clear some paper work first."

She groaned again. "Dad, I'm not five, I'm eighteen. You know I'll keep the doors locked. I'm not a little girl anymore."

There was a slight pause before he answered. "I know Rosie, I know."

Rose's lips formed into a small smile. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

She clicked the phone off and smiled as she finally reached her destination. The two story building towered before her, not imposing in the least. Rose opened and closed the gate as she entered her front yard. She fished her keys out of her pocket as she climbed up steps and stood on the doormat. She pulled out the key and unlocked the door, stepping into the dark house. Rose closed the door behind, locked it, and turned to face her home. She sucked in a deep breath and slowly exhaled, breathing in the familiar air. Rose loved her house, it had memories of an entire spectrum. She kicked off her wet boots and took off her hat before placing her bag on the ground. There was no coat on her person since it was summer. Her hand reached out and clicked on the light in a mechanical way, the movement being automatic to her. She was greeted with mahogany walls and beige furniture. The kitchen was cluttered, her father obviously not having the time to clean their home. Rose frowned slightly. Her room at Oxford was always clean, thankfully her roommate shared her tidiness. She sighed for yet another time.

"Tea sounds good." she said to herself, kicking the bag out of the way and traipsing toward the kitchen. Her hands practically moved on their own as she prepared the water and pulled out the tea bags. She had no problem with the shelves, she was exceptionally tall. It did bother her at times, being taller than several of her male friends, but it did have many advantages as well. Such as reaching for the tools needed for her addiction. The pot sat on the stove as she searched for some biscuits. Drawers opened and closed within seconds as she searched the kitchen.

_Shuffle shuffle_

Rose froze in her spot, her left hand hovering just two inches from the knife drawer. Her ears blocked out all noise from the rain.

_Shuffle shuffle_

Her hand stretched out farther to the drawer, her other hand on the counter. Her fingers curled around the handle of the drawer and she slowly pulled. The sound of something unfolding rang in the air and she immediately grabbed for the biggest knife in the drawer. Rose twirled around to face her oncoming attacker and froze.

A black mass flew at her in a blur. She barely ducked out of the way in time to dodge it. It crashed into the cabinet, plates flying off of the shelves. The tea pot whistled over the stove, but Rose paid no heed. Her long legs went to work as she darted for the door. She heard the glass break in the back as the thing jumped up and pursued her. Desperate, she grabbed her bag and swung around, just managing to catch the creature by the head. It screamed as the heavy bag crashed down on it. With the agility of an Olympian Rose darted for the back door. She could already hear the thing getting back up, so she had no hope going through the front door. The scream grew louder in seconds and she instinctively ducked. The creature cut her off and was floating in front of her. For a split second she saw blood red eyes glaring at her, flapping its wings as it advanced again. This time it went for her head, though could only manage to get her hair. Rose screamed as it pulled at her hair. She reached up and grabbed the beast. It was large, but not large enough to be hard to handle. Adrenaline coursed through her body as she charged for the wall and slammed the body into it. Rose could feel the smaller body collapse somewhat and heard the sickening crunch along with it. The creature screeched in agony.

Rose dropped the bundle of metal in her disorientation, her own head had taken the hit as well, but the writhing monster on the ground took the brunt of the collision. She was able to stumble away as the monster still screeched and began to move once more. Rose stumbled past the door and found herself at the stairwell. At this point she could have ran out the door, but the thing could pursue her. Worse, it may harm others in the process. She had no choice but to charge up the stairs, her balance returning to her. She started towards the door of her room but stopped and faced her father's room.

Her brain went into overtime as she threw the door open and slammed it shut behind her. Rose's hands moved quickly as she locked the door and advanced to the closet. She pushed the hanging shirts out of the way and found what she was looking for. A long black case was lying on the small shelf hidden behind the clothing. Rose grabbed it and pulled it out. Her hands worked quickly as she worked the combination on the lock. It was her birthday, November 18th. Her father had told her a few years ago, just in case if anything happened. Never had she thought she would need it.

The locks clicked as she set the numbers, 1811, and the latches clicked open. She opened the case and marveled at the weapon before her. The Winchester lied before her, the would gleaming in the light from the closet. Rose stared, amazed at the size of the weapon.

_CRASH_

Her hands flew into the case and she pulled out the weapon and opened the case of ammunition. She loaded the casings into the chamber, the crashing growing louder and the screeching more terrifying. She clicked everything into place just as the door rattled. Screeching tore through the air, giving Rose another headache.

_THUD THUD THUD_

The monster was trying to get the door open, but luckily for Rose the doors were very thick and heavy. She clicked the safety off and put pulled the gun, clicking the bullets into the chamber. Rose took several deep breaths as she aimed the gun at the door, remembering all of the practice she had a few years ago. It had been awhile, but muscle memory allowed her to settle the gun in place and place her feet just right. She waited as the creature continued to try and force the door open.

_THUD THUD THU-**CRACK**_

Rose winced as the door cracked, but she composed herself once more. She bit her lip, remembering how loud a shotgun was, and it would be worse inside a room. Maybe she had some time to grab the earplugs?

_**CRACK CRACK**_

Nope, apparently not. She stayed steady as the cracks grew deeper. She could have just shot it off now, but she didn't want to risk anything, plus the monster would have a warning. This was a surprise that she could not afford to spoil.

And finally the moment of truth. The door cracked again, a screech, and the door broke open, red eyes burning with rage.

She reacted in less than a second. Her finger squeezed the trigger, the buckshot flying out and a huge flash of light.

**_BANG_**

Her ears went numb and all she could hear was ringing. She watched as the hole in the door blew up, splinters flying though the air, and the creature jerked back, its eyes wide in shock. Rose stood stock still as the monster disappeared behind the door. Her arms shook, the shot gun will firmly in her grasp. The monster could still be alive, and she wasn't going to risk her only defense.

Rose held her breath, attempting to hold back the sob forming in her throat.

* * *

><p>"Thirty-five."<p>

Robert flinched and held the cellular phone back as his daughter screamed at him over the line. Nora chuckled next to him, ignoring the look Robert sent her way.

"It was just an accident Rose. I fell last night and scratched my arm. It's fine, I'll live. Nora cleaned it up very well."

He smiled at Nora, who waved it off. She was trained in first aid, it was part of her job. She often had to make sure that Robert wouldn't kill himself over work. His face was pale and the wrinkles were becoming more prominent. Though he was in his fifties, he was going to age faster if he kept this up.

Nora watched Robert's face change as he warned his daughter to lock up the house, as if she was coming home from grade school. She sympathized for him. Even before the divorce Rose was always his top priority, and now she was more important than ever. Robert and Helen were still on good terms, of course, but he still felt lonely without her. Rose was his one true life line to this world.

Robert's eyes changed slightly when he said goodbye and hung up the phone. Another sigh escaped his lips. His daughter was growing up, and he had to deal with it.

"She'll always be your daughter, no matter how old she gets." Nora reassured him. Robert smiled.

"Yes, but she doesn't think she's my little girl anymore."

Nora shrugged and placed her hand on his shoulder. "It will be fine. Rose is a fine young woman, she'll sort everything out."

The nurse walked back in, checking his arm once more. She nodded. "Your arm is fine, you can leave now."

Robert and Nora thanked her before she left. He grimaced at the thought of all that paper work waiting for him on his desk.

"All right, lets get this over with."

The station was bustling about as forensics gathered the evidence. Phones were ringing all over the place and papers were stacked high, the highest of course being on his own desk. Robert reluctantly sat down and set to work, filling in the blanks and writing his experience. Nora cleared files and answered phone call after phone call. This went on without a problem. The only conversation was about the case and discoveries. Robert blocked out all noise and focused on his work, until his name was called out by one of the other deputies.

"Detective Connelly! It's again! She sai-"

Robert growled under his breath. "Tell her that we're going through evid-"

"It's not about the case! It's your house!"

Robert froze and looked up, his heart going cold.

"What?"

The deputy's face was etched with worry. "Your house, said she heard a lot of noise. She heard screaming, sir."

_Rose._

Robert flew out of his chair, papers flying. Nora was frozen, her arm stretched out while grabbing another file.

"I have to go, I'm sorry." he stated and bolted out the door. Nora watched, knowing that she couldn't follow.

Robert jumped into his car and pulled out with a screech. His foot slammed on the gas, ignoring the traffic around him. He only had one thing in mind, and that was his daughter. He cursed when he saw the traffic up ahead. His problem was solved when he fished out his police siren and attacked it to the top of his car. Traffic immediately cleared for him and he flew down the street. How he was able to control the car while on wet asphalt was either a miracle or a break in the laws of physics. Nevertheless, Robert pulled into his house in less than five minutes.

He saw a few pedestrians staring at his house and several more onlookers in the windows of their houses. From across the street he could see , phone permanently glued to her hand, staring out from her window. Robert could make out bits of conversation as he climbed out of his car and grabbed for his gun. Screaming and crashing were apparently the only things major, some screeching too. He pushed past the onlookers as he opened the gate.

**_BANG_**

Robert's heart froze and the civilians slammed their hands against their ears. The blast echoed for a few more seconds before silence took over. Robert saw the flash in the window on the top floor.

_Rose!_

He was young again, his body streaking across the yard and into the house in no time at all. Robert barely registered his ruined living room and kitchen, but he did note the hole in the wall. He heard another strange sound from up the stairs, like a weak cry.

Robert trampled up the stairs, not caring if the intruders heard him or not. He would kill them before they could even pull the trigger. When Robert reached the top of the stairs he froze at the sight.

Before him was a tangled mess of what appeared to be oil, metal, and splinters of wood. Pieces of black metal laid across the floor and some even stuck to the walls like shrapnel. Oil was leaking out of the bundle before him. Robert gasped as he recognized the long wing shapes. It was the thing that attacked him the previous night. It had somehow tracked down his house and broke in. Had it been after him? Why?

Robert looked up, his eyes widening and his heart leaping in joy. There stood Rose, frozen in shock and holding his Winchester in her hands. She had some blood trickling down her head, her hair was all over the place, and her makeup was smeared from tears. But other than that, she was fine. Robert stepped over the carcass and held his arms out. Rose finally registered her father before her.

"...Dad?"

He nodded, tears leaking out of his own eyes. Rose's arms shook and she dropped the weapon to the ground. She flew into her father's embrace, sobbing in his neck, since there was only three inches between them. Robert hugged her back twice as hard, sobbing as well. He wanted to ask his daughter what had happened, but she was too preoccupied with smearing makeup on his shirt at the moment. He didn't care, his daughter was alive and safe.

Robert looked down at the dead creature before him and narrowed his eyes. He had no idea what the hell this thing was, but he hoped to God that he, and especially Rose, would never have to deal with anything like it ever again.

But for the Connellys, this was just the beginning.

* * *

><p><em>This begins the rewrite of "The Time of Our Lives" and, most importantly, "Our Intertwining Destinies" itself. I apologize to those who liked the first story, but trust me, this one is much better. The formatting is copied from Bells of Eden and the Connellys belong to her.<em>

_I hope you enjoy the rewrite after so long. See you in the second chapter._**  
><strong>


	3. Shove

**Chapter 2**

**Shove**

* * *

><p><strong>[May 2008]<strong>

* * *

><p>The black van pulled up against the curb and parked. The man lowered his sunglasses to look at the house before him.<p>

_Hmm, quaint._

He opened the passenger door and stepped out, his shiny black loafers connecting with the wet asphalt. The man stood up straighter and fixed his suit while two other men exited the vehicle. They stood by each of his shoulders. The man cracked his neck to the side and led the pack as other vans began to pull up. The suited trio strode up to the gate, the leader opening it leisurely, and climbed the steps before stopped at the door. He flicked his wrist up and rapidly knocked on the door. There was no response. He frowned.

_They're taking their precious time._

He lifted his hand up and knocked again, louder this time, and rested it behind his back once more. The two other men stood behind him with no expressions on their faces. Finally he heard footsteps growing louder as they neared. A few seconds later the oak door opened to reveal a woman with long black hair and dark green eyes. She narrowed them slightly and did not open the door any wider.

"Can I help you, gentlemen?" she asked, a slight condescending tone. He ignored it and pulled out a black leather casing and opened it to reveal his badge.

"Agent Simmons, United States Government, Sector Seven. I assume that you are not the owner of this home. Is Robert Connelly here?"

The woman looked at his eyes, only seeing her own reflection, then turned to the numerous other agents in the front yard.

"Is there a reason why there are so many suits in the yard?" she asked, skipping over the question. Simmons caught it of course, and his lip curled into a smirk.

"That is none of your concern, ma'm. Now please do not ignore the question. Is Robert Connelly at home?"

She glared slightly and stood up straighter.

"Why is that any of YOUR concern, may I ask?"

Simmons's lips fell into a straight line.

_Clever girl._

"Ma'm, if you do not answer the question I will be forced to remove you from the premises."

Her green eyes hardened. "Under what jurisdiction? You're from the United States, this is England. You don't have the right-"

"Oh don't worry about that, sweet heart. Your own Prime Minister has given us permission, but that's all government secrecy and all. Now is Robert Connelly home? Or am I going to find out for myself?"

She stepped outside and blocked the doorway, her eyes hard. Simmons arched an eyebrow down at her. He turned slightly to the right an nodded, the two agents stepped forward.

"Nora, that's enough!" a voice called out from inside the house. A male voice, Simmons noted to himself. The two agents stepped back immediately and the door opened again, an older man appeared behind her. He gave the woman, Nora, a look and she frowned, eyes still hard. He turned to Simmons.

"I am Robert Connelly, is there anything I can do for you?"

Simmons's face became emotionless once more.

"Yes, first I need you to take this civilian out of he-"

"I am an inspector of the Thames Valley Police! I am no civilian!" she barked at him.

Simmons, impressively, barely reacted to the outburst. He calmly turned to her.

"Nevertheless, inspector, this has no concern with you. Thompson, if you could kindly escort the inspector off of the premises."

The man to his left stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. Nora jerked it away.

"Take your grubby hands off of me!"

Robert gently placed his hand on her other shoulder, she looked up at him.

"Nora..."

She narrowed her eyes at him and sighed.

"Fine I'm going I'm going-DON'T touch me again! Robert, I'll see you in an hour."

She gave Simmons a look at the last statement before turning away and marching away from the porch. The other agents parted like the red sea as she blew past them. Simmons turned back to the tall man before him.

"Robert Connely, I am agent Simmons of the United States government, Sector Seven. I would like to ask you a few questions."

Robert reacted cooly. "Of course, err, may I ask why there are so many agents in my front yard?"

"Oh, there's nothing you have to worry about. They're just sight seeing, lovely place you have here."

Robert simply looked at him and stepped away, opening the door wider. "Of course, would you like to come in?"

"Why yes, I would enjoy that." he responded before turning to his two agents. "Stay here boys, I'll call you when I need you."

Robert watched Simmons enter and nodded to the two agents before closing the door.

Once inside, Simmons looked around the area. The kitchen was small but organized, the mahogany gleaming in the light. Simmons took off his sunglasses and placed them in his jacket pocket, turning to the living room and arching an eyebrow.

"Interesting design." he said, referring to the literal hole in the wall. Robert glanced at the wall for a brief second while preparing coffee.

"Yes, water damage unfortunately. Would you like some coffee?"

"Sounds good."

Simmons observed the pictures on the shelves. Pale faces smiled at him, their eyes shining brightly at them. He passed through the pictures of Robert and a blonde haired woman, possibly his ex-wife, and stopped on the red haired girl.

_There she is._

Grey-blue eyes, her father's eyes, stared back at him in the photo. Simmons picked up the frame and stared at it for a few more seconds and put it back down.

"So what did you want to ask me about?" Robert asked, pouring the steaming coffee into two mugs. He carried them to the table, Simmons walking up and sitting down. Robert turned back around and returned with a tray of sugar and cream for the coffee. Simmons began adding his own amounts to his cup.

"Yes. I heard that you guys had some...trouble around here for a few months?" he took a sip of the coffee and waited for the answer. Robert stirred his cup, not looking up at the agent right away.

"Yes, four months of robbery, attacks, and murder." he took a sip of the coffee, glancing at the window before to Simmons.

"So did you get your guy?" he asked, leaning back in his seat.

"No, not yet. We're still on the case, but we'll get him."

"Mmhmm..." Simmons took another drag of his beverage, staring intently at Robert. "What about 's Cathedral? I heard your police force investigated over there."

Robert nodded, "A team did investigate and found the stolen goods, but no one was there."

"Is that so? Shame, at least you have evidence."

"Yes, it is a relief."

It was silent for a few more seconds.

"So how did you get that scratch on your arm?"

Robert glanced at Simmons, his eyes flashing for a less than a second. Simmons saw it, but didn't say anything.

"It was an accident, I fell down the stairs and scratched myself."

Simmons stared at the man intently for a while, not even blinking.

"So did your daughter patch that up?"

Robert stiffened and narrowed his eyes at Simmons. "My daughter?"

Simmons responded coolly, "Yes, that red haired girl in the pictures over there. I assume that's your daughter, you look alike."

"Yes, she is my daughter, but no, she did not fix my arm. Now are we going to talk about my life some more, or are you going to tell me about why there are agents prowling around my house?"

Simmons chuckled a little. "You ARE clever, aren't you? Okay, let's cut to the chase. You've told enough lies, we know that you solved your case a few days ago. You were at the Cathedral and that's how you got that cut on your am there, isn't it?"

Robert glared at Simmons, not responding, but Simmons continued.

"And that hole on the wall over there? Yeah, we know that's a load of BS too. You saw something at the church, and your little girl had a little party here yesterday too. Didn't she?"

Robert stood up, glaring down at the man. "That's enough! I'll escort you to the door."

Simmons stood up, slower than Robert had. "Oh, but see here Detective Connelly, we've just started. You see, you and your daughter have seen things that aren't meant to be public, so unfortunately for you, and for my work load, you two will have to come with us."

"My daughter isn't going anywhere with you!"

Simmons's mouth straightened. "We could do this the easy way, Connelly, or we could do this the hard way. You've made it hard enough for my boys outside, you seem to have hidden the body pretty well."

Both men turned when they heard footsteps from upstairs. The stairs creaked slightly when Rose traversed down them.

"Dad? Is something wron-oh, who's this?"

She looked between her father and the agent. Rose glared when she saw Simmons's eyes slide down to her legs and then jump back up to her face.

"Ahh, . It's a pleasure to meet you. Agent Simmons, United States Government, Sector Seven. I'd show you my badge, but we've spent enough time here."

Rose glanced at her dad and her eyes widened. "Dad, what's wrong?"

Her father frowned. "Nothing honey, go back upstairs."

Simmons cut in immediately. "No, just stay where you are sweetie-"

"DON'T call me sweetie, asshole." Rose glared at the man. Simmons frowned, convinced that all of the women in this country hated him.

"Rosalie Connelly, you and your father are coming with us."

"On what charge?"

"On the charge of withholding government property."

"What! What property!" her heart jumped into her throat. Surely he didn't mean...

"The NBE you killed yesterday, now put your shoes on, toots. We've got some things to talk about."

* * *

><p>"...you <em>shot <em>it."

"What the hell else was I supposed to do! It was trying to KILL me!"

"...you SHOT it."

Rose crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the man before her. She was in a large room with nothing but a single lamp, that was shining VERY uncomfortably in her eyes, a table, and two chairs. The agent from before, Simmons, had been questioning her for an hour now. He had been asking her irrelevant questions. How old she was, where she went to school, if she was in to any cults, and numerous other questions that she swore was just an excuse to waste her time. She still didn't know what the hell they wanted from her.

"Okay, so you shot it, and then daddy came home and gave you a hug. What did you do to the body?"

"What does it matter? It's dead, isn't it? If anything you should just leave it."

"You don't get it, that thing is the property of the US government, and if you don't tell me where it is, you WILL be thrown in jail. You're eighteen, correct? You're no minor, sweet heart, you'll be behind bars for the rest of your life. And they don't serve tea down there."

"How DARE you threaten me! I haven't done anything except for defend myself!"

"THAT'S IT! You have five seconds or else-"

"Let it GO Simmons, I'll take it from here."

Both turned to the man standing in the doorway. He was tall and had messy brown hair. The man had strolled into the room, giving Simmons a hard look the entire time.

"Why don't you go get yourself a cup of coffee, _Seymour_."

Rose snorted, Simmons glaring at her then to the other man. "Watch it, _Captain_, I'm in charge in this field. And that's Agent Simmons to you."

The taller man arched this eyebrows coolly and pointed to his chest. "Well, _Agent Simmons_, you should know that as a _Major_," he gestured to the gold leaf on his chest, "I have just as much authority as you. John Keller may have re-commissioned Sector Seven, but you guys are still not in his favor, so if anyone should be watching it, it's you."

Simmons growled, glaring daggers at the Major, but recovered quickly. "Well, _congratulations _Major. Now, if you would _kindly _leave so I can continue."

The Major rolled his eyes. "Give the kid a break, Simmons. She's been in here for over an hour, you could have at least gotten her something to drink."

"I don't tell you how to do your job, you should have the same courtesy."

"You don't tell me how to do my job because you COULDN'T do my job."

Simmons stood up. "I'll have you know that I have had combat experience, I was fighting a year ago-"

"Yeah, you fought the little guy with four other people, while I took out a big one by my-"

Both men stopped and turned to Rose, who stared at them in total confusion. Simmons cleared his throat and fix his tie. "Fine, you can talk, she's already seen too much anyway."

Simmons stalked out, glaring at the taller man for a brief second before leaving the room. He slammed the door and his foot steps were muffled on the other side of the wall. The other man shook his head and turned to Rose. He smiled warmly at her, calming Rose immediately.

"Sorry about that, he always has a stick up his ass."

Rose nodded in agreement. "Agreed, bloody git."

The man smirked, deciding he liked the girl already, and sat down. He held his hand out to her. "Major Will Lennox, you can just call me Lennox though."

She took his large hand and shook it, it was warm and welcoming. He leaned back and rested his arms on the table. "Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's cut to the chase. You saw something that civilians aren't supposed to see. It's not your fault, of course, but there are still procedures we have to go through. Now do you have any idea what's going on?"

Rose shook her head. "No, I don't, but I swear I won't tell ANYONE about this, no that they would believe me."

Lennox frowned at her. ", I'm sorry, but you were attacked, and we don't know if it will happen again. Whether you like it or not, you and your father are involved, and apparently Miss Hardison is too."

Rose's eyes widened in shock. "How-"

"We found some left over oil in your house, her fingerprints were on them."

Rose cursed in her head. Nora helped them the previous night with clean up, and she saw the body too.

"Don't worry, we'll bring her in later since we're a little busy at the moment. You got a good look at the thing that attacked you right? What do you remember?"

Rose bit her lip before proceeding. "It looked like a giant bat with glowing red eyes. It was made out of metal too...is it some secret project or something?"

Lennox shook his head. "No, we couldn't build anything like that. You're going to to think I'm crazy when I tell you though."

"I was just attacked by a giant metal bat, I'm pretty sure nothing else can surprise me."

Lennox shrugged. "True, but I would be surprised if you believed me."

Rose's foot was pumping her up and down, a little nervous tic of hers. What could possible be so difficult to believe about a robot bat?

"Okay, here it comes. You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Lennox sighed, preparing for the rejection. "It was an extraterrestrial."

Rose didn't say a word for a few seconds, and then arched an eyebrow. "...a what?"

Lennox shook his head, expecting the reaction. "An alien, you were attacked by what's called a Decepticon."

A pause, "You're right, I don't believe this."

"Told you." he said, shrugging and leaning back in his seat. "But I AM telling you the truth, that was an alien. How much do you know about the attack on Mission City last year?"

She frowned, recalling the name of the city. "Hmm, it was attacked by terrorists, right?"

Lennox nodded. "Yeah, that's what the media said, but that's not what ACTUALLY happened. I was there."

That definitely caught Rose's attention. "What happened then? An alien invasion?" she chuckled. What was next? Will Smith had save the world? She stopped when Lennox gave her a serious look.

"Precisely."

"...you're shitting me."

"I shit you not."

She couldn't believe it, she DIDN'T believe it. "Bullshit. How do you expect me to believe that?"

Lennox looked at her for a few more seconds before reaching for a bag that Rose didn't even notice. He pulled out a manilla envelope and tossed it on the table. Rose stared at it, looking back up at the Major. He nodded to her, granting her permission.

Hesitantly, Rose opened the envelope to reveal papers and many photographs. Charts and text littered the papers. She searched through them, picking out words like 'radiation' and 'coded signals'. The papers shuffled as the flipped through them and finally took a look at the pictures. Blurred images of giant figures posed in smoke and shadow. She paused at the picture of the vehicles, arching an eyebrow at the sight of them. Her eyes shifted up to Lennox.

"A flame painted semi and a neon yellow ambulance?"

He shrugged again. "That's what they chose."

"...they?"

"The Autobots."

"...what?"

Lennox leaned forward again. "If you want to know, I'll have to tell you the whole story from the beginning. It's a bit of a long one, you ready?"

Rose's blood began to cool and her stomach tightened. If there was a story behind this, then she had a feeling this was no joke. She gulped. "Sure, but can I get something to drink first."

Lennox smiled, figuring she'd be thirsty by now. "Sure, what do you want?"

"Do you have any tea?"

Within minutes a steaming cup of tea was sitting before her. She smiled when she recognized the smell of Earl Grey, but frowned at the lack of milk. Wanting to get to the story, she ignored it and took a sip of the tea. Satisfied for the moment, she sat attentively. Lennox took this as her telling him she was ready, and began.

"In order to get you into this whole program, we're going to have to go back a bit. Way back, actually, to about a century ago. It may seem confusing at first, but trust me, it will all tie in."

Rose stared at the sheets placed before her. One was labeled "Archibald Amundsen Witwicky", the other "Project: Ice Man".

"This here is Captain Archibald Witwicky..."

Lennox pointed to a picture of an old man with a beard and glasses.

"...he led the National Arctic Circle Expedition in 1897. His ship was trapped in the ice. While trying to free the ship he fell into a cavern and made a discovery."

He pointed to the other paper.

"This is what he found, the Ice Man, or his actual name, Megatron."

Rose blinked at the name. "Mega-what?"

Lennox held up a hand. "Hold on a minute, we'll get to that soon. Now back to the story. Archibald touched something on Megatron and touched it. He was blinded by a flash of light and he cracked his glasses."

He then pulled out a print out of an eBay page with a pair of glasses on them. Rose's eyebrow went up again at the name.

"Ladiesman217?" she asked in a flat tone. Lennox immediately pulled out another paper. This one had a picture of a boy that appeared to be around her age staring at the camera with a baffled expression and unkempt hair. The top read "Samuel James Witwicky."

"This is his great-great grandson, Sam Witwicky. Good kid, kind of squirrelly, but a good kid. He's about your age. Anyway, he inherited the glasses and attempted to sell them on eBay, quite unsuccessfully I might add. Anyway, when he got out of school for the summer his dad decided to buy him a car."

Lennox pulled out another paper with a picture of a yellow car with black stripes. Rose looked up again. "His dad bought him a car like THAT?"

"No, it was a different model Camero when he bought him."

"Him?"

"Just hold on, we're almost there. So Sam had the car for a bit until it started acting strangely."

"Acting strangely?"

"Yeah, it started driving around, by itself."

"What?"

"Yup, Sam told me he referred to it as 'Satan's Camero' or something. So Sam follows his car one night, thinking it was stolen, and found it in the dump. That's when he made the discovery."

"That his car was a alien?"

"That his car was an alien."

It was silent in the room for a few seconds as Rose tried to process everything she had been told so far. Lennox pulled out a few more papers with pictures of different vehicles on them.

"A few nights later Sam was attacked by a Decepticon. He ran away from it, and of course got someone else involved."

He pulled out yet another paper with a picture of a beautiful girl on it, labeled "Mikaela Banes."

"That's his girlfriend-"

"THAT'S HIS GIRLFRIEND?" she asked, completely baffled. From the picture Sam didn't look unattractive or anything, he was cute at least, but Rose couldn't even imagine him being with someone as beautiful as this Mikaela was. Lennox started cracking up.

"Yeah, that's what we all think, even Sam. Anyway, so Sam's running away from this Decepticon and his car saves him. That's when Sam and Mikaela really met Bumblebee for the first time."

"Bumblebee?"

"Yeah, that's his name. He took Sam and Mikaela to meet with the rest of his team, the Autobots."

Lennox pointed to the papers and began. "Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Jazz, his lieutenant. Ironhide, weapon's expert. And here's Ratchet, their medic."

Rose's eyes lingered on the picture of the Hummer for a few seconds before turning back to Lennox. "So what are they?"

"They're Autobots, short for Autonomous Robots. They're the good guys. See, their species is called 'Cybertronian', but they are split into two different factions. I think it's pretty obvious by now that the Decepticons are the bad guys here."

Rose nodded before Lennox continued.

"They're from the planet Cybertron. Optimus Prime was co-ruler of the planet with his brother, Lord High Protector, Megatron. Megatron wanted to steal the Allspark,"

He pulled out a picture of a gigantic cube.

"...that's what created Cybertron. This stared a civil war between the two sides. The Autobots were able to blast it off into space, but Megatron pursued. It landed on Earth, in Antarctica, and Megatron followed. He was too heavy and fell into the ice and-"

"Froze himself!" Rose exclaimed, now seeing the pieces fitting together. Lennox nodded.

"Yup, froze himself for thousands of years. After Archibald found him, he was locked up in an asylum and diagnosed with insanity for talking about a 'devil man'. But of course, the government got a little interested. In the 1930's they dug him up with the Allspark and hid him in the Hoover Dam."

Rose interrupted him. "Okay, so why is Sam a part of all of this?"

Lennox continued. "See the cracks on the glasses?" he pointed them out. She nodded, now noticing they had a peculiar pattern to them.

"When Archibald touched Megatron, he activated his navigation system. It imprinted the map to the Allspark on his glasses."

Rose's eyes widened in realization. "So Sam had the glasses and the Decepticons wanted it, and Bumblebee came to him for help."

Lennox frowned slightly.

"Are you going to let me finish the story?"

"Sorry."

He paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Exactly. But of course, a certain somebody had to get into the way."

Lennox paused and then jerked his head to the door. Rose's eyes widened even more. "That asshole?"

"Yup, he arrested Sam and Mikaela and threatened to put them in jail. He got a little surprise after that, Optimus wasn't too happy with him."

Rose could only imagine.

"Optimus tried to get Sam and Mikaela away from the agents, Sector Seven if you heard our spat a few minutes ago, but Bumblebee was taken. Sam and Mikaela were too, along with some hackers, but you'll probably hear about them later."

Rose ignored the urge to ask, this was already crazy enough.

"So that's when I met them, at the Hoover Dam, and we were all shown the Allspark and good ol' Megatron himself.

Rose quirked a brow. "Wait, that's when you come in? You just met them at the dam?"

Lennox shook his head. "No, I wanted to get all of the important stuff out of the way first."

He pulled out a photograph of the former base in Quatar, nothing but wreckage in the picture.

"Last year I was stationed at SOCCENT Forward Operations base in Quatar. While my team and I were there we were attacked by a Decepticon, Blackout. Many good men and women died that day because of it. My team and I made it out, but we were attacked later by another 'Con. We were able to call in an aerial assault on a cell phone and run it off. That's how I got involved."

She frowned. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Lennox nodded in thanks. "Thank you, but that's the life of a soldier. You sacrifice for your country."

Rose smiled at him. She knew of her father's past, though he had retired from his position when she was very young, but she had a respect for the military nevertheless.

She looked down and pulled a picture of a fighter jet towards her. "Is this an Autobot or a Decepticon?"

Lennox glared at the page she held. "That's a 'Con alright, Starscream. He ran off after the battle at Mission City."

"How did that happen, by the way?"

"When we were in the Hoover Dam, Bumblebee was able to bring the Allspark down to a manageable size, it was very cool, and we had a hold on it. When that happened, Megatron woke up and met up with the rest of the Decepticons. The rest of us deployed for Mission City. We met up with the rest of the Autobots on our way and the battle started as soon as we reached the city. I had to give the cube to Sam during the fight and told him to run for it. I swear if I had a shred of respect for that kid before I gave him that cube, it multiplied a hundred times over after I did. Every single 'Con was on his ass, Megatron himself even, when it was in his hands. Shit, Sam fell off of a building trying to get that thing away from Megatron."

Rose listened intently as Lennox recounted the battle and how they had figured out how to take out the Decepticons by themselves. She tried not to gasp when she was told that Megatron had ripped one of the Autobots in two and threw him away like a rag. She dared not interrupt, until he got to the point where Sam became the big hero.

"Wait, he stuck it in his...spark case, you said?"

"Yeah..."

"Why would he do that? Did he know what would happen? Did Optimus ever tell him what would happen?"

Lennox was dead silent as he stared at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again. "Uhh...holy crap."

Rose fought the urge to smirk to herself. She had just been told about all of this and figured that out in mere seconds. Lennox had actually been there.

He cleared his throat. "Well, my ignorance aside, Sam killed Megatron and the government tossed the carcass into the Laurentian abyss. Hopefully the water pressure would have crushed his body by now."

"Or that he rusted."

"Heh, that too."

He shuffled through the papers a bit and Rose watched him, a question forming in her mind. She chewed her bottom lip for a moment before finally asking her question.

"Why did it attack me?"

He didn't look up from the papers. "'Scuse me?"

"That thing...bat...Decepticon. Why did it attack me?"

"Oh, that. Well that 'Con was stuck in your area for awhile and needed to establish communication, but it didn't have the power to do it. So it started stealing anything it could find that could help it communicate. Your dad was on the case, as you know, and he ended up getting too close for comfort. From what he's told us, he found the 'Con at the church he checked out and it must have attacked him. He said she got a shot at it too. We think what happened was that the 'Con found your house and broke in to attack your dad. Instead of your dad, you walked in the house. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, really."

"Oh..."

Lennox was still shuffling through the papers as Rose stared down at her empty cup of tea.

"That's pretty much everything that happened last year...oh yeah. This was very interesting actually."

Five more papers, one of them had a picture of a giant aircraft and the other four were of people.

"A month before all of this hit the fan, something big happened over in Assonet, Massachusetts. In May of last year, an Autobot crashed into the woods by a former bed and breakfast, owned by Jade Rivers.

He pointed to the woman with the blonde streaks and handkerchief on her head.

"The other three are her wards. Interestingly enough, one of them is a grad student at MIT. He was a help of course."

Rose searched through the files and found that Charles Chase was the MIT graduate. She paused at the image of yet another overly attractive woman.

"Ah, a Scouser, eh?"

She looked up to see his very confused face. "Oh, that's what we call people from Liverpool, Scousers."

"...oh."

Her cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment while Lennox continued.

"Anyway, the Autobot that landed ended up being injured a bit, and these guys fixed him up and took care of him for a month. His name is Skyfire, he's a pretty nice guy. He couldn't speak in English for a little while there, but Ratchet took care of that.

Rose smiled a bit.

"After the battle the 'Bots found him and picked him up. After that they all got together and we gave them a base."

"Where the hell did you get a base for them?"

Lennox smirked again. "Oh, we had one lying around. It's classified, but everybody knows about it."

She paused and stared at the man, bewildered. "If everybody knows about it, how can it be classified?"

"Well, no one has ever actually seen it, outside those with clearance, but it's been talked about for decades.

Her faced morphed into an incredibly flat look. "Oh what, they're in Area 51?" she rolled her eyes. "An alien invasion is enough, now you're sounding like a bad sci-fi movie."

"Then my life IS a bad sci-fi movie, because that's exactly where the government put the Autobots."

Before she had time to thump her head against the table in annoyance, Lennox pulled out ANOTHER paper from the pile. There was a giant CLASSIFIED printed sideways across it. It was impossible to actually read the document fluently.

"I can't actually show you the papers, but here it is. After Mission City we had the Autobots moving around and considered many different areas for a base, but John Keller was given access to Area 51 so he had the Autobots check it out. They were...well...I can't really give that away. You don't have any clearance yet, but you will."

There was another pause as Rose's slender shoulders sagged. "I don't understand."

"What's that?"

"I'm nobody special! I'm just a regular teenage girl. I don't have any special connections and I'm not involved with any groups. Why would I get clearance over something like this?"

Lennox sighed. "Yeah, I get that, but there are rules. See, after the whole thing with Skyfire, we realized that we simply couldn't have people see anything and then throw them in jail. It was considered, but once we took a look at their credentials. Simmons said it would have made things easier, but Keller was very understanding about it. If someone caught a glimpse of anything related to the Autobots, they would just ignore and say it was their imagination. But you and these four," he pointed to the four from Massachusetts, "were directly involved. They helped an Autobot and you were attacked by a Decepticon. You've seen too much and now you have to be involved."

She didn't like the sound of "have to be" there. "What do you mean? Can't I just go home?"

Lennox shook his head. "No, you can't go home, not for a long time."

Her heart skipped a beat. "What! Why can't I go home! I have a LIFE in England! I go to OXFORD for Christ's sake!"

"We know full well, . Unfortunately these are the rules. You are a liability to this secret now. My superiors and I have talked it over and we be able to allow you to go home for school, but other than that you're staying in the States."

Rose almost sighed in relief. At least she wouldn't be pulled out of her school. She worked her ass off to get there. "What about my dad? And Nora?"

"They're going to be involved too, but not as much as you. Your father used to be in the Royal Air Force, we're considering giving him a military position. Miss Hardison has no military experience, but from her records we can conclude she's an excellent police officer. We can get her a job here."

"But she has family at home!"

"We know, but we can't risk anything. She got involved as soon as she entered your house and helped clean up the body."

She lowered her head and stared at the table top. Her life just took a complete turn in less than twenty-four hours. Why didn't she just stay at Oxford?

_Because you missed your dad, and if you had stayed there's a good chance he would have been killed._

A sigh escaped her lips. From the other side of the table she heard Lennox rise from his chair. He wanted to comfort her, but he knew the only comfort would be to tell her that she could go home and crawl into her bed. Lennox did pity her, he had to be away from his family enough on tour, but now he was at the base all of the time. Sarah could rarely visit because of credentials and the whole process was a mess. There were few times where he could return home and visit his family. Keller had told him that after he was promoted to Major he'd be able to go home more, so there was _something _to look forward to.

"I'm sorry about this, but this is how it has to be."

Her head shot up.

"Wait, why do I have to listen to your government? I'm not a United States citizen!"

"You are now."

Her jaw dropped. "What?"

"As soon as we detected the Decepticon at your home and identified you, we automatically appointed you a green card. Congratulations, you just succeeded in something that normally takes people years to accomplish."

He winced from the look he gave her. Her eyes were very deep and intense.

"That isn't funny. You don't have the right to just appoint me as a citizen like that!"

Lennox leaned on his elbow, this was beginning to tire him. "The English government, including many others, are aware of the Autobots and decided to affiliate with us on this. So we do have the right, actually."

Her jaw dropped slightly and she shook her head in disbelief. "There's no way out of this, is there?"

"Afraid not, kid. Sorry about that. It's not like your in prison or anything, you can leave the base every now and then, and you can go back home during school. The only thing is that you're going to have to move here now. Maybe in the future my superiors will let you go home even when you're not in school."

Lennox frowned when she still stared down at the table. Lennox stood up, the chair squeaking slightly as it slid back.

"I need to clear a few things over about this, you leave tomorrow for your flight. You can return for your finals, but then you have to come back to the States. Is there anything else you need?"

Stone cold silence was all that he received form the young woman. He stared at her for a moment before turning around.

"An escort will pick you up in a bit."

He waited for a moment for some form of acknowledgement, his reward being a slight shrug. Lennox closed the door and sighed.

_Poor kid. She doesn't even know what she's gotten into yet._

He turned left towards his next destination, his foot falls echoing down the florescent lit hall.

* * *

><p>One hundred and five degrees felt just about as bad as it sounded. And on days like this, it was even worse. Sunlight beamed down in fury, its heat reflecting off of the seemingly endless miles of sand. Dry air hung like laundry on a line, and their skin singed in the sun. He took a breath and coughed when the dirt kicked up again.<p>

"I hate the desert. I hate it so _fucking _much." he grumbled under his breath. A laugh came from his left. The other man, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses that reflected the burning sun.

"Hey that's where your antepasados live, man." he grinned to his friend. The other man turned his head to the river, a look of confusion on his dark face.

"I don't what you said, but I KNOW that was something messed up."

"Heh, I told you Epps, you gotta keep up with Figueroa or you'll be lost."

Epps turned away from Fig and back to the road. "Shut up, _ese_."

"Callete, _negro_."

Epps hid his grin from his friend. He wasn't sensitive about race like many other people he knew. Unlike most, Epps could tell the difference between a joke and racism. He still condemned a specific word of course, there was a line to draw.

"Gracias a dios! Llegamos aquí!"

Epps shook his head. "Fig, for the last time, SPEAK ENGLISH."

"You're jealous cause you're not cultured."

"My left ass cheek is more cultured than you."

"I don't think about your ass, man."

Fig slowed the jeep to a stop as they arrived at the first guard post. Even though Fig said they were "here", they still had to drive another twenty minutes to their actual destination.

The guard marched up to Fig, who pulled out his ID card. Though the guard knew full well who Epps and Fig were, there were still precautions that had to be taken into consideration. The guard nodded at the ID and turned away from the jeep, signaling the other guard at the post while doing so. There was a loud buzz and the gate opened, allowing the two soldiers to drive through. From here it was nothing but open desert again, though the two knew full well that if you were to drive out a few miles you would come across miles and miles of barbed wire electrical fence.

Within a few minutes Epps could just barely make out the ware house like building in the distance. This was the Autobot base, known to everyone else as Area 51. Epps always figured that it was way too obvious to put an alien base somewhere famous for alien activity. The Autobots agreed, or course, but they were desperate for a place to stay.

"Looks like someone got 'Hide going pretty early, huh?"

Epps squinted and saw a very large black figure moving in the distance. The wind carried the mech's distinctive and gruff voice over the distance.

"...fragging idiots...follow directions...not that hard...too old..."

He laughed. "Rookies are probably pissing themselves right now."

Even though the Autobots had much more advanced technology, and there had been little to no Decepticon activity in the past year, they still needed defensive weaponry in case anything had ever happened. Unfortunately the had to buy small amounts at a time to not cause too much attention. Every time they were allowed to order new set of weapons, they had to pick them up and bring them to the base as inconspicuously as possible. This happened three times in the past year. After the first time, Lennox had come up with an ingenious idea.

Over time more Autobots had landed and they needed more security, therefore more military officers. Usually they sent in younger guys, figuring it would help them gain some experience.

Unfortunately, though, the new guys weren't quite warned about the Autobot's size. And they definitely didn't know about Ironhide.

"Oh man he's got the cannons out!"

Lennox figured the only way to really get the new guys ready for the Autobot experience was to scare the ever loving _shit _out of them right away. And who better to scare said shit out of some fresh meat than Ironhide?

Epps's personal favorite gig was the cannons. His eyes widened and he nearly jumped up out of his seat.

"Oh shit someone passed out!"

As they grew closer to the base they could make out Ironhide more clearly. He had faltered slightly at the man who had fainted, emphasis on _slightly_.

"Oh man, we got to get that guy's name. I don't think I've seen anyone faint before, man."

"No, Johnson did six months ago."

Fig tilted his head slightly in though, then nodded excitedly. "Yeah yeah, you're right! Ah man, classic."

They stopped at the gate just as the unconscious man was carted off to the med bay. Little did he know that there was a much greater fright there than Ironhide. The gate opened and they drove up to the base. Ironhide had now put his cannons away, but his artificial anger was still apparent.

"And I swear to Primus if I see ONE more crate fall over I'm going to use its innards to blow this whole place to the Matrix! Don't you give me that look, I saw that!"

Fig parked next to the other jeeps and both men climbed out.

Fig grabbed the bag in the back seat while Epps continued to the front of the base, the current location of the nightmares of several men for weeks to come. Most of them had never even seen a Decepticon up close, and yet they feared for their lives. Epps paused slightly before shrugging.

He knew from personal experience that nothing, not even Megatron himself, was a terrifying as Ironhide.

**BOOM**

The ground shook and dirt floated off of the buildings. Ironhide was silent for once and the rest of the rookies froze. Epps turned to Fig, both knowing full well what was about to happen next.

"Wait for it…"

Dead silence, Fig swore he could hear a tumbleweed blowing in the wind a few hundred feet away.

"**FRAGGING PRIMUS, WHEELJACK!**"

The ground shook even harder. Ironhide flinched slightly before shaking his metal head slowly. The rookies stared wide-eyed at the front door to the base. One guy actually squeaked in fear.

Epps took that back, there actually was one thing that was more terrifying than Ironhide, and that was Ratchet.

And the beautiful part was that the rookies were about to learn this first hand. Ironhide turned to the two and gave them a knowing look. He brushed his hand to the side, a signal that had been well practiced. Fig and Epps sidestepped and hid behind the jeep. The rookies looked back at them in curiosity. Fig stood up a little straighter and pointed away from the door.

"You're gonna wanna move away from the door in a sec, guys."

The rookies looked at him and each other before they froze at the sound of muffled engines from behind the door. Epps almost laughed out loud at the sight of several grown men leaping out of the way of the door mere seconds before it burst open. A Mercedes Benz screamed out of the base, black scorch marks splotched all over the hood, with a very large and very neon yellow ambulance trailing behind very closely. The lights were flashing red and the alarm was roaring through the desert. There were a few screams and quite a bit of profanity from the rookies as they ran away in fear.

"You better get used to this shit, guys!" Epps yelled across from them. Fig and Epps continued toward the base, pausing again at Ironhide's feet. He was staring at the dust clouds that were Ratchet and Wheeljack shrinking in the distance.

He groaned, pinching his nasal strut.

"I swear that damned scientist is going to be the death of all of us one day."

Fig smirked up at the giant mech. "Hey, at least he can take out a few Decepticons with him."

Ironhide paused, his metal fingers still on the nasal strut. "True."

Epps laughed and walked through the now open doors. The inside was exactly what the outside made it look like, a giant warehouse. There were military trucks and other vehicles parked neatly like a parking lot. Soldiers and agents were walking in all directions, talking animatedly with some other personnel.

"Looks like we've got something going on again." Fig muttered to Epps, who nodded in agreement. The two men walked across the colossal room to the opposite wall. They had reached a door with an electrical locking mechanism. Both men pulled out their IDs and each one inserted theirs into the slot and pulled it out, like a card key in a hotel. Epps had done this first, the door clicked and he entered. The door shut behind him. After a few seconds it opened again and Fig entered.

"I still don't get why we just can't go through at the same time."

Major security reasons would have been the correct answer. Though both men were given very high clearance, nearly the top level, they still had to take the highest precautions. It was regulation, and for a reason.

They continued down the long hallway, passing by a few men in suits carrying files and coffee. They turned left and eventually found themselves standing before another door. They repeated the card process, Fig grumbling his annoyance in Spanish. This led to another hallway, which they took. They stopped in front of a desk, where a woman sat in front of a computer. She glanced at them and they held up their IDs. She nodded and turned back to the computer. She clicked on an icon and typed before the door behind her clicked. The two thanked her and they entered. Finally they were in a room with nothing but an elevator door and two agents standing on either side. Both soldiers held up their IDs before the guards, who nodded. They turned around to face the wall. On said wall was a panel with buttons and a tiny screen. Both agents pulled out their own security cards and placed them in the panels. There was a beep, and then both guards pressed a numerical on each of their panels. Finally, a blue light flashed.

Within seconds, green letters spelled out RETINAL SCAN COMPLETED: ACCESS ALLOWED on the screens. The elevator doors opened, and the two soldiers were admitted inside. They faced the door once inside and watched the doors close in front of them.

Epps sighed. "These processes piss me off."

"I hear ya. We've been coming here for how long and we still have to do this shit?"

"Yeah, maybe we can talk it over with Keller or something. I can understand with rookies but for us this is messed up."

The elevator continued to descend further and further underground. Fig thanked the higher powers that the elevator did not have music playing. After a few minutes the elevator finally slowed to a stop.

_DING_

The doors slid open to reveal a caged wall in front of them. Fig and Epps stepped forward to exit the elevator. There was a buzz and the cage door clicked. Fig pushed the door open and for once both he and Epps could enter simultaneously. He closed the door behind them and sighed in relief.

"Finally! I could go back to Mexico in that time!"

Epps gave Fig a flat look. "Okay Fig, I get it, you're Mexican."

Now they were in the actual Autobot base, a few hundred feet below the warehouse they had entered. The base mostly consisted of gigantic hallways made of metal paneling. A good chunk of it was already there when the 'Bots had first shown up, which made them wonder why humans would build such large hallways that would later conveniently fit Cybertronians in the future.

The two men found themselves in the doorway of their destination. It was the main computer room. A giant screen, including several smaller screens, adorned the wall opposite of them. Keyboards and other computer interactive devices were hooked up to said screens. Standing in front of these screens was the towering, blue helmeted form of Optimus Prime. He was discussing with an even more towering form, Skyfire, about the information on the screen.

Epps noticed the black marks on Skyfire's white armor, along with the black skid marks on the floor. Even if he hadn't seen the chase from outside he would have been able to tell what happened. Optimus finally took notice of the two men and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Epps, Figueroa, welcome back."

"Hey Optimus. What's going on here?"

That was the nice thing about Optimus, he was very laid back. As long as you showed some form of respect, he was satisfied. He gestured to the screen, the two men walking closer. They greeted Skyfire, who acknowledged them in return.

"We have been monitoring your solar system's activity recently and have found two Cybertronian signals."

"Decepticons or Autobots?"

"We've been able to identify them as Autobots," Skyfire continued "but we have no knowledge of their identities."

Fig shrugged. "Hey, as long as they're Autobots, I'm happy."

Optimus nodded in agreement. "Agreed, but Skyfire believes it will take time for them to arrive. Maybe over a deca-cycle."

"Three earth weeks." Skyfire translated. Though it had been a year, there was still come confusion over the time units. The Autobots were attempting to use more Earth terms, and the humans Cybertronian. Some of the humans even used terms such as 'slag' and 'frag' quite often. Epps and Fig agreed that whenever an Autobot cussed in English terms it was hilarious.

"So we need to prepare for these guys."

"Affirmative. We have already sent out a message with the coordinates. If they follow them correctly, they should land a few miles south from the base."

Skyfire sighed. "Though I am pleased that there will be more Autobots, it is exhausting to make preparations."

Fig frowned and pulled his bag off of his shoulder, fishing something out of it.

"Well Sky, sorry to disappoint you, but there's going to be more than just some new 'Bots around."

Optimus and Skyfire looked down in curiosity as Fig pulled out an envelope with papers packed inside.

"There was a 'Con in the UK causing some trouble. Some cop got a wind on it and it got pissed and attacked his kid. They're ETA is 14:00 tomorrow."

Optimus frowned in concern. "Is the child stable?"

Fig nodded. "Yeah, she's fine. She's not a child either, 19 years old. Still a kid, but not a child."

Skyfire turned back to Optimus. "So shall I report this to Ratchet once he returns, or will you, sir?"

Optimus sighed. "I will take on the responsibility. Though I may have to wait until after he finishes with Wheeljack."

"Agreed."

All four turned when they heard Ratchet's faint voice growing louder as he and Wheeljack descended down the giant elevator used for Autobots. He had the inventor held by his left fin in the manner of a mother pulling her child by the ear.

"-and if you even go NEAR that lab again without a supervisor I will personally rip off your batticulli and shove it up your aft!"

Wheeljack's feet dragged across the floor, creating a screeching noise that echoed through the base. He held his hand out to the other four, his optics pleading for help. There was absolutely no response from the other four, who only gave him looks of empathy. They all knew Ratchet's wrath full well.

"Yeah, Prime. I think you should probably wait a few hours after Wheeljack." Epps remarked.

"I SAID SIT DOWN FRAGGIT!"

**CRACK**

"…on second thought, why don't we just surprise him?"

His three companions nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p><em>And here is chapter two. I hope you all enjoyed it. I would have extended it, going into greater detail about the base and the humans inside it, but I figured it was getting long enough already. I apologize for those who are racially sensitive, but they ARE just jokes, people.<br>_

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you in the third chapter.  
><em>


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